In general, gaming provides an escape from the everyday rigors of life. Gaming machines, such as slot machines and video poker machines, provide fun and excitement for the player. Bright lights and exciting sounds are often used to set a gaming machine apart from other gaming machines. Slot machines have evolved considerably since their inception. Originally, slot machines displayed purely mechanical reels. While these machines gained enormous popularity, the mechanical nature of the reels limited the number of displayed symbols and the number of different winning symbol combinations.
Computer and video technology facilitated the expansion of the possibilities for gaming machines. There are now slot-based, card-based, and other types of video gaming machines. Video gaming machines use computers to generate symbol combinations from an expanded number of different symbols. For example, video reel strips can include a virtually unlimited number of symbols, which enables a wide variety of different symbol combinations including combinations that appear very infrequently and yield high payouts. Video monitors may also provide bonus or secondary games. Bonus games in gaming machines have become much more prevalent and elaborate in recent years. For example, players play the base game until becoming eligible for a bonus game. The base game temporarily pauses, while the player plays the bonus game. When the player completes the bonus game, the gaming machine returns the player to the base game.
It should be appreciated that there is increased player attraction and excitement inherent in a base game—bonus game combination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,048 discloses a method for providing bonus payoffs during a bonus mode time period. The method provides the bonus to a portion of interconnected, linked gaming machines. The bonus includes providing a bonus multiplier for any winning combinations obtained in the linked gaming machines. The bonus mode time period ends when a bonus pool reaches a predetermined low value.
However, there is a need for more elaborate gaming and bonus systems for continued player interest and excitement. One way the industry has met this need is with the advent of gaming systems. Gaming systems provide a way to interact with and compete against fellow players in an enjoyable and non-intrusive fashion. There is thus a need for new and improved gaming systems.